Chapter 15

Saturday

Saturday morning I wake up early, and I call the hospital at seven thirty. The staff don’t wish to speak to me at first, because I’m not family, but one of the senior staff has been talking to my guards, Rob has them change every four hours, and she gives me the good news to pass along. All three are off the critical list, and they woke up this morning, Mrs Noonan was the last one to wake up about twenty minutes earlier. I promise to tell the families who are with me. I pass the information on for Kayla too.

I ring down to order breakfast for everyone for eight o’clock, and I start waking people to get ready. Everyone is part dressed and in a robe when Room Service arrives to set out breakfast. I smile on seeing the new table, I’d missed seeing it yesterday. Once put together it’s like a giant circle with a small arc cut out to allow access to the centre. Each section is three quarters of a metre wide by one and a quarter metres long. The curve isn’t obvious while placed against the wall, but they soon show the shape when put together in the middle of the room.

When we sit down I say, “Good work on the table, Sharon, it’s perfect. I spoke to the hospital. Everyone’s off the critical list, and they’ve all come out of their comas. Having just woken up the doctors put them back to sleep so they’ll heal quicker. We can visit them this afternoon. All of the patients are recovering well. Kath, I left a message about your mother’s condition for Kayla with the staff.” There are smiles all around the table at the good news.

Turning to Rob I say, “The new glazing, please ask the makers about performance results against penetration on different curvatures. If the material is strong enough there should be an amount of curve where the energy of the bullet impact will be transferred through the material to the frame, thus giving it a higher resistance to the impact. I’d also like to know what a five and six layer set up looks and performs like. I’m thinking about what to do for the new house when I build it. I want the best security possible designed and built in.” He gives a wide grin as he nods vigorously, which I take as an indication he’ll get it looked into.

There’s twenty-one of us plus guards. Dad and his two slaves: Dee and Mai; my three girlfriends: Lia, Kath, and Debbie; my eleven slaves: Sharon, Liz, Belle, Diane, Dawn, Denise, Makha, Mayu, Kira, Nadia, and El; our three extra child guests: Jon, Amy, and Fred; and me. With two work crews here today we’ll be well under foot for them. We need to get out and about, but with safety and security. I think about what we can do while we eat, and engage in general chatting. Several minutes later I’ve an idea of some fun shopping we can do.

When we finish breakfast I tell everyone to dress to go shopping. Rob, Jon, and Fred moan while the rest cheer. Dad knows what to expect, and he likes the idea, Rob doesn’t like the security needs, while the two boys have no idea of the treat in store for them. Twenty minutes later we’re ready, and heading out. We’ve so many it takes two loads in the lift, large as it is, to get everyone down. That’s despite the bulk of the guards being downstairs waiting for us in the foyer.

While I wait for the girls I interview twelve new guards, and I give them the basic commands I’m giving all of our security. We now have over fifty guards on the payroll. I ask Dad if that’s too much, and he says, “Not enough for your gang.” I decide to leave the numbers up to them.

When we leave the hotel to go down the street I smile at seeing the two Hummers heading down the road while we walk. They’re going, because they have extra gear and guards while we’ve got thirty guards spread out around the group, some up to fifteen metres ahead checking things out. Most of the group don’t realise how much security we’ve got set up, but Rob, Dad, and I do. All with the new encrypted radios, too.

Shopping

As usual the first stop is the beauty salon for my new girls to get a quick shave, and they all get their nails done as well. Not all of the girls have the required bikinis, so we stop there next. Amy is ecstatic about getting high end bikinis. Right up to the point where she sees her brother’s jaw drop on seeing her in the revealing swimwear. She loves the attention from Jon and the rest of the males, so she’s soon happy again.

A stop at Victoria’s Secret to top up the cupboards of my regulars, and to buy a few items for the extras. I make sure all of the girls get very skimpy G-string type thong panties, and I have them wear them. The major stop is a special clothing store near the centre of the mall. When we enter the shop the girls start giggling while most of our security spread out in the open area around the escalator and along this end of the food court leading off it opposite the cosplay shop we enter.

I smile while I move the group to one side of the store, and I ask a sales girl to help outfit the girls in sexy seifuku, Japanese School Girl Sailor Suits like you see on television shows, tight tops and short flared skirts. Very soon all of the ladies are in matching outfits of white with red trim which have the skirts just level with the crotch of their panties. Even Dee and Sharon look like high-school seniors. Each outfit is marked for who it belongs to, and they’re placed in bags. Then I have them outfitted as characters from the Sailor Moon shows as well, even us guys get outfits to match the theme. Between the five story arcs, and all of the characters in them, we’ve plenty of scope to have everyone in a different outfit. We start the main characters with my girlfriends, and move out from there. By the time all of the girls are dressed in Sailor Moon character outfits there’s a lot of very cute arse on display when they move around the shop while waiting for me to pay for it all.

After paying for it all I’ve everyone stay in these outfits, and I ship the rest of the gear back to the hotel. When we leave the store and start to spread out to get a snack at the food court you’d think a major public relations campaign for a Sailor Moon movie was on. Especially with Mai and her girls leading the group heading to the left to go around the escalators in the middle of the main walkway which has a minor exit hall on the left just past the end of the rail around the escalator gap.

When the girls turn to walk by the entrance to a bookshop opposite the end of the escalator a group of five men walk out of the store, and they turn to their right, which is our left. They reach the girls. In a sudden move two men grab Mai to lift her up while two more grab Makha and Mayu - one each, and they all start to run to the exit under the direction of the fifth man who’s waving a gun. I look to the exit, and see a large Japanese man there with a gun in his hand. I shout, “Contact, Bandits west, as you sight.”

All my people have been well trained since Rob joined us. Hearing the shouted code word ‘Contact’ causes all of my people to dive for the ground, except the guards, and those near our guests pull them down with them. Our guards all draw their weapons while they look for the danger. The five guards near the west side of the mall turn to the exit, and see the kidnappers. In my shouted instructions I gave permission for them to open fire, so they waste no time wondering what to do. They open fire when their guns come on target. A quick volley of shots resolves the situation before the rest of the people even know there’s a problem. All six of the kidnappers spout multiple wounds, and they fall down, releasing their captives when they do. The girls are smart enough to stay on the ground when they reach it.

I keep my eye on the Japanese man while I head for the floor. I smile, on seeing the look of shocked surprise on his face when he sees so many people produce guns to quickly open fire at him and his team. He never gets a chance to bring his gun up or to fire a round before he and his helpers are down and dying.

Our people are fast to move in to verify the bad guys are dead. All of our people are OK, but we wait for Rob to give the OK before we stand up. Some of us are back on our feet before the other shoppers start to react by screaming at the gun play. The whole matter is over that fast.

I gather Mai, Makha, and Mayu to me for a group hug. The rest of our group gathers around while Rob sets up a barrier of alert guards to protect us and the crime scene before he calls the police. Within minutes he has us sitting in front of the shop while we consume the drinks and snacks a couple of the food court employees bring over for us.

Once I calm down Mai and her girls I go from person to person in my group to comfort them with a good hug and cuddle as needed.

I call Randy to tell him what happened. He soon turns up with pads and pens. He has all of the girls write out their statements, which he witnesses and copies at a nearby shop. When they’re ready for them we give the police a pile of signed statements, so they’re soon finished with most of us. Thirty-five minutes later the police tell us we’re all free to go, except for the guards who did the shooting who have a lot more questions to answer. Luckily for us the mall’s security system recorded the incident, so it’s clear they were justified in using their guns.

Rob leaves Leslie in charge of the guards still with the police while he supervises our withdrawal to the hotel under very tight security. The work crews are all finished on the spa side, so I’ve everyone lie down in bed, or get into the spa. They’re very happy to have a rest and relax after the stress of the attack.

Retribution

After settling the girls and boys down I go to my office to call John. He’s not happy to hear about the kidnapping attempt. Nor is he happy when I ask for information on where I should find Tadao. He takes the opportunity to tell me the results of the information on the dead at the Schlene residence. All of them are mercenaries on the ‘better dead’ list. He’s glad they’re dead, but he’s worried, because they were last seen in Florida being trained as part of a large force being put together by a guy called Tanner, an ex-Army Major dishonourably discharged. John faxes me photos of Tanner and his senior subordinates while he tells me what he knows about Tadao.

Tadao’s main place of business and residence are in the one building which has a large Kenjutsu dojo in it. John is very reluctant to give me the address, but he does so when I explain we’ve already met, and I must speak with him to deal with the issue before it becomes a full scale war with his Yakuza clan. While Rob finds where the address is, and makes the arrangements for us to go calling, I go to my room to open my secure cupboard to get two very special bags. Getting them out of the cupboard I open them to make sure all is correct before closing them again.

Rob’s eyes almost pop when he sees me walk out of my bedroom with an oversized clothes bag over my shoulder while carrying a metre long case a hand’s width wide and half a metre deep. I smile, because I can tell he recognises the multi-sword case I’m carrying, but it has a lot more elaborate engraving, and is bigger, than a normal sword case.

Lifting the sword case I say, “The only very expensive gift my Mum gave me, it was on my last birthday. It has my tanto, wakizashi, katana, and tsurugi. They were made for me in Japan out of Tamahagane steel by a master swordsmith of the Komiya family. I had to go to Japan for one of the family to measure my hands to design the handles and grips to fit me perfectly. I’ve no idea how many thousands of dollars they cost her for the set by the same master craftsman. Each has its own engraving, but they’re clearly a set.”

“Tsurugi? What’s that? I know about the others.”

“They’re all good examples of their types. My tanto’s a double edged moroha twenty-five centimetres long, the wakizashi’s fifty centimetres, the katana’s seventy centimetres, both of these swords are single edged. The tsurugi’s a double edged straight sword ninety centimetres long. It’s carried in the hand or on the back. Since I could barely walk I’ve learned martial arts: Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū, ninjutsu, and Yagyū Shingan-ryū to start with. I need to go to Japan to pass the final tests in order to receive my menkyo. I’ve also to take an oath there before I can do the final tests. I no longer use any traditional styles in real combat, because I’ve a black belt in Taekwondo too, and I’ve mixed the styles together, making it harder to anticipate what I’ll do in a fight. Where possible I settle for a good hard punch or kick, because they’re easier to deliver in most cases.” He grins while he turns to lead me to the car.